The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior an against the present disclosure.
Flicker noise is generated by electronic devices. Flicker noise is also called 1/f noise, because the power spectral density of the noise is inversely proportional to frequency. Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) devices made with sub-micron feature sizes, such as MOS devices fabricated on a 28 nm process, can generate substantial flicker noise at frequencies in the tenths of Megahertz or more.
An oscillator may be used to generate a carrier signal having a high carrier frequency. A non-linear operation of components within the oscillator may up-convert to low frequency noise present within the oscillator. The upconverted noise may produce phase noise in the carrier signal and may produce noise sick bands on either side of the carrier frequency.
Flicker noise is generated by different mechanisms than other types of noise in electronic devices, such as thermal noise and shot noise. As a result, techniques used to reduce other types of noise may be ineffective in reducing flicker noise.